Shanxi (Earth-5875)
Shanxi, also known as Epsilon Indi IV, was a human Outer Colony in the Epsilon Indi system. Founded in 2338 by the [[UNSC Qing (Earth-5875)|UNSC Qing]], Shanxi was the first human planet discovered and glassed by the Covenant, sparking the First Contact War. History Prehistory Shanxi was settled by forerunners seemingly 100,000 years before the activation of the Halo Array. Their civilization or workings on the planet is unknown, and all that remained consisted of a xenomorph containment and research facility. This structure was home to a holographic cartographer with coordinates to the Procyon system. Founding and a ''Conestoga''-class destroyer preparing to leave Earth.]] Shanxi was founded in 2338 by the crew of the [[UNSC Qing (Earth-5875)|UNSC Qing]], colonists from Earth, mostly coming from China and Brazil. For the next years, they organized into the planet and formed its capital, Wengchang. Because of the ethnic and national origins of Shanxi's inhabitants, most of the planet's locations, from cities to regions, are named after Chinese mythology and Brazilian folklore, as well as real-life figures and moments. Secession Numerous Insurrectionist groups became active on Shanxi before and during the Secession, such as the People's Occupation Government and and the Sovereign Colonies. One of the Sovereign Colonies' leader, Jerald Mulkey Ander, was assassinated by the ORION Avery Junior Johnson as part of Operation KALEIDOSCOPE. First and Second Battles of Shanxi and a squad of UNSC Marines approaching a Covenant vessel.]]Not long after, the colonists of Shanxi became the victims of the first contact between humanity and the Covenant. With the aid of the Shanxi Colonial Militia, the local UNSC and CMB forces evacuated dozens of survivors from Wengchang and other species to the planet's space elevators. During the battle, only 250,000 of the total one million of inhabitants were successfully evacuated from the planet in freighters commanded by Avery Johnson and ONI agent Jilan al-Cygni, as hundreds of UNSC soldiers and CMB officers fended off hordes of unggoy, kig-yar, yanme'e and jiralhanae warriors from destroying the ships. Despite the destruction of two of the freighters, Johnson and his men were able to carry the survivors up one the elevators, where they entered the propulsion pods placed there by Sif, which they used to enter slipspace and escape the planet, now occupied by the Covenant. The Covenant's discovery of humans on Shanxi became the prelude to the hegemony's genocidal First Contact War against humanity, after the Hierarchs misinterpreted forerunner glyphs. Shanxi Campaign forces on Shanxi following a victorious battle.]] When the CAA sent its scout ship ''Argo'' to investigate the occurrence on April 20th, 2525, it never returned. The CAA then sent its Battle Group 4, led by Captain Maribeau Veredi, to investigate. The team discovered Shanxi has been attacked and glassed by the Covenant, as one of their ships attacked them as soon as they exited slipspace. Veredi and his vessel became the only survivors as soon as they returned to Reach. The UNSC attempted to reclaim Shanxi during the Second Battle of Shanxi in 2526, with its commanding officer, Vice Admiral Preston Cole, the UNSC's greatest naval leader, barely winning the battle after the loss of 2/3 of his fleet, despite their numerical advantage. Shanxi continued to be contested for the next years in what became known as the Shanxi Campaign, but the Covenant only kept attacking and slaughtering the UNSC's forces, lasting until 2531, when Cole led a final group of ships, including the [[UNSC Spirit of Fire (Earth-5875)|UNSC Spirit of Fire]], in the efforts of quelling the Covenant occupation. There, the UNSC discovered that the Covenant had established many bases underground the planet, having uncovering an unknown forerunner location which led the UNSC Spirit of Fire to Arcadia. Topography Shanxi was a small planet, being one-third of Earth's size and possessing an equatorial diameter of more than 4,000 kilometers, which made Shanxi smaller than Mercury. Shanxi's surface area was of ~50 million km², approximately one-tenth Earth's surface area. It orbited Epsilon Indi, at approximately 150,000 km/h, having a quick day-and-night cycle. The planet had no natural satellites of its own, and was the only habitable planet in the entire system. Shanxi possessed only one supercontinent, Shenlong, and took 67% of the planet's surface. The planet was formerly covered in multiple grasslands and forests, home to thousands of lakes and rivers, such as the famous Kubitschek River. Bats and starlings were among the planet's two introduced species. After its glassing by the Covenant, Shanxi was reduced to mere piles of melted glass, with its destruction being visibly seen from orbit. The former lush forests were reduced to frozen tundras, leading the planet's species to extinction. The planet is now only reduced to eternal nuclear winter without life. Locations *Shenlong **Kubitschek River *Wengchang *Salvador Base *Epsilon Base *Curupira *Relic Economy and society Shanxi was one of the most productive and peaceful colonies of the UEG. Only twenty years after its founding in 2338, Shanxi possessed the highest per capita manufacturing and agricultural capabilities of all Outer Colonies. Many crops of corn, wheat, watermelons, peaches, apples, grapes, and many other goods were produced in the colony. Shanxi had a small population of 1 million by 2524, with only a fraction of it surviving the Covenant's attack on the planet. Wengchang was the capital of Shanxi, and it was home to seven space elevators connected to the space station Jaci. Shanxi was ruled by a Governor, a position held by Nils Thune by the time the planet fell to the Covenant. The Parliament of Shanxi, based on the Shanxi Parliament Building, in Wengchang, was the planet's official country, answering only to the UEG. Shanxi had its own branch of the branch of the Colonial Militia, with seventy-eight platoons. Like all other human colonies, its police force was the Colonial Marshal Bureau and its military was the United Nations Space Command. Trivia *The planet was named after shanxi (山西省), a province in China, on Earth. Category:Earth-5875 Category:Locations of Earth-5875 Category:Planets of Earth-5875 Category:Human colonies (Earth-5875) Category:Outer Colonies (Earth-5875) Category:Planets Category:Locations Category:Created by Draft227